10/14/2026
FOLLOW THE MONEY PART 4: The Money Didn't Stop — Even After SB 56 Became Law
Five-minute read | Part 4 of an ongoing investigation
By June 2025, Ohio's fight over ma*****na and intoxicating h**p was at a standstill.
SB 86 had passed the Senate but stopped advancing in the House. SB 56 was still alive, but lawmakers couldn't agree on what the final legislation should look like.
Meanwhile, our investigation had already uncovered contributions to Ohio House Speaker Matt Huffman from cannabis executives, industry political committees, attorneys, and lobbyists representing businesses affected by both bills.
But the campaign contributions weren't finished.
Another $104,933.49 in our identified contribution records arrived between July 2025 and June 2026.
Of that amount, $15,102.54 came during the remainder of 2025.
Another $89,830.95 arrived in 2026, after SB 56 had become law.
And some of the same names kept appearing.
September 2025: The lobbying money continues.
On September 16, 2025, Vorys Advocates for Effective Government PAC contributed another $500 to Huffman.
We introduced Vorys in Part 3.
The firm has an established cannabis and h**p legal practice, along with government-relations operations.
Its attorneys work with regulated businesses on licensing, compliance, and interactions with government agencies.
The September contribution followed an earlier $2,500 payment in April.
Meanwhile, the legislature still hadn't resolved the dispute over h**p regulation.
SB 86 remained stalled.
SB 56 was waiting for the House to determine its next move.
October 2025: The pressure builds.
On October 3, two more contributions appeared.
Michael Toman — $500.
McKenzie Davis — $500.
Both were associated with The Success Group, a government-relations firm with documented lobbying relationships involving the Wholesale B**r and W**e Association of Ohio, to***co interests, and licensed cannabis businesses.
Six days later, on October 9, Toman contributed another $500.
That same day, Ohio Grocers PAC contributed $1,000.
Why were these connections important?
Because grocery stores, convenience stores, restaurants, and beverage distributors were among the businesses whose ability to sell THC products depended on how lawmakers wrote the legislation.
And these industries did not all agree on the solution.
Some wanted intoxicating h**p products restricted.
Others wanted a regulated pathway to continue selling them.
They were fighting over access to the same developing marketplace.
Then, on October 14, the dispute became even more urgent.
Governor Mike DeW**e's emergency restrictions on intoxicating h**p sales took effect, although a court temporarily blocked enforcement.
The legislature was under pressure to produce a permanent solution.
October 19: Another familiar name.
Charles H. Gerhardt III contributed another $2,602.54 to Huffman.
Gerhardt worked with Government Strategies Group.
His official Ohio lobbying disclosures identified Rhinegeist Brewery as a client and listed SB 56 and SB 86 among the matters on which he had engaged in legislative advocacy.
His executive-agency disclosures also identified work involving cannabis-infused beverages before the Department of Commerce and Liquor Control Commission.
By October 19, Gerhardt's identified 2025 contributions to Huffman totaled $13,012.70.
That is a direct connection between a campaign contributor and a lobbyist whose disclosed work involved the legislation we are investigating.
And just days later, the House finally acted.
October 22: The bill that passed overwhelmingly.
On October 22, 2025, the Ohio House passed its rewritten version of SB 56.
The vote was 87–8.
That is significant bipartisan support.
The House version included a proposed licensing pathway for certain independent h**p retailers and separate provisions for h**p-derived THC beverages.
It was not the same bill the Senate had passed in February.
Matt Huffman acknowledged the legislation had changed substantially.
He celebrated its passage and described it as a "good faith compromise between interested parties."
But the agreement did not last.
On October 29, the Senate refused to accept the House's changes.
The bill was headed to a conference committee.
And the version that ultimately became law would not be the same version that had received 87 votes in the House.
November 2025: The vote changes. The money continues.
On November 19, the House approved the conference committee report.
This time, the vote was 52–34.
Compare that with October 22.
October 22: 87 votes in favor.
November 19: 52 votes in favor.
Thirty-five fewer representatives voted yes on the conference report than had supported the earlier House version.
That is a substantial change in legislative support.
And six days later, another contribution group appeared in Huffman's records.
November 25, 2025:
Contributor
Amount
Adam A. Thomarios
$2,500
OHCANN PAC
$5,000
Combined
$7,500
Remember Adam Thomarios?
He is the CEO of Klutch Cannabis and served as board secretary of OHCANN, the Ohio Cannabis Coalition.
In Part 1, we documented the March 25 contributions from Thomarios and three people connected through the Klutch/Thomarios business network.
Now Thomarios was contributing again.
And this time, OHCANN's own political committee contributed on the same day.
The $7,500 arrived after the House approved the conference report, but before the Senate's final approval.
December 2025: SB 56 becomes law.
On December 9, the Senate approved the conference report by a vote of 22–7.
On December 10, Altria Group PAC contributed $2,000 to Huffman.
Altria is a major to***co company whose lobbying relationships also appeared in our investigation.
Nine days later, on December 19, Governor DeW**e signed SB 56.
But he vetoed the provisions that would have allowed a temporary pathway for h**p-derived THC beverages.
That changed the legislation yet again.
The version approved by the House in October, the conference committee version approved in November and December, and the law signed by the governor were not identical.
The bill had changed. The votes had changed. And the final outcome was different from the compromise Huffman had celebrated in October.
March 2026: The law takes effect.
On March 20, 2026, SB 56's main provisions took effect.
For independent h**p retailers, the restrictions were devastating.
On March 19, 2026, independent h**p retailers across Ohio were legally selling products they had built entire businesses around.
On March 20, those same products became illegal for them to sell. Overnight.
There was no functioning licensing pathway that allowed those independent businesses to simply apply and continue operating. Store owners faced potential criminal penalties for continuing to sell the very inventory they had legally purchased and stocked the day before.
Businesses shut their doors. Employees lost their jobs. Owners were left with inventory they could no longer legally sell.
And here's the part that makes this especially difficult to accept:
The established ma*****na industry had spent years criticizing intoxicating h**p products and arguing that they belonged under stricter ma*****na regulations.
But when SB 56 took effect, licensed ma*****na dispensaries retained a legal pathway to sell regulated cannabis products while independent h**p retailers were shut out.
The products didn't simply disappear from the market. The law changed who was allowed to sell them.
For independent retailers, March 20 wasn't a transition to a new set of rules.
It was the day a business that had been operating legally could suddenly face criminal consequences for opening its doors and selling the same products.
And the contribution records continued.
On March 20, the same day the law took effect, Ohio Craft Brewers Association PAC contributed another $500 to Huffman.
Other industry-connected contributions had already arrived during February, including $2,500 from Vorys PAC and $500 from Andrew Bowers, a government-relations professional with documented licensed-cannabis clients.
April 10, 2026: The $20,000 pattern returns.
Remember the three CHW Advisors partners from Part 2?
Matt Carle, Melissa Hoeffel, and Madison Whalen?
On April 9, 2025, they had contributed exactly $5,000, divided into three unusually precise amounts.
Now look at April 10, 2026.
Contributor
Amount
Matt Carle
$14,949.00
Madison Whalen
$3,333.33
Melissa Hoeffel
$1,666.67
Brian Barger — Cornerstone Policy Advisors
$51.00
Combined
$20,000.00
There it was again.
Four individual contributions from the CHW/Cornerstone-associated group.
Exactly $20,000.
And the $51 contribution is especially striking because Carle's $14,949 and Barger's $51 add up to precisely $15,000.
The same day, Vorys PAC contributed $2,500, and Ohio Merchants Committee PAC contributed $2,000.
That's $24,500 in identified contributions on April 10 alone from these professional and industry-connected contributors.
On April 22, Carle, Hoeffel, and Whalen contributed again, this time in amounts of $420.07, $420.07, and $420.06.
Another precisely divided group.
Another $1,260.20 combined.
The records establish repeated contribution patterns involving the same professional network.
May 20: Another $20,000 from one business.
On May 20, 2026, two individuals reporting Outpost Brands LLC as their employer each contributed $10,000.
Matt Schwarmann — $10,000.
Tom Beckman — $10,000.
Outpost Brands operates in alternative-product manufacturing, including cannabinoid-related product categories.
Two individuals reporting the same employer contributed $20,000 on the same day, after Ohio's new h**p restrictions had taken effect.
The contributions were reported as individual payments, not corporate donations.
But the shared employer, matching amounts, and date make them another identifiable contribution group.
June 2026: The contributions keep arriving.
June brought more familiar names.
On June 5, the reviewed records show:
Contributor
Amount
Ohio Chamber of Commerce PAC
$16,615.67
B**r & W**e PAC
$8,000.00
Vorys PAC
$2,500.00
Ohio Craft Brewers Association PAC
$1,000.00
Carle, Hoeffel and Whalen combined
$500.00
Combined
$28,615.67
Two days later, James Benedict of Government Strategies Group contributed $1,000.
On June 9, Charles Gerhardt contributed another $5,205.08.
B**r & W**e PAC also contributed $1,000 that day.
These were additional payments after the legislation had passed and taken effect.
And they brought our identified contribution investigation to its June 30, 2026 cutoff.
Now look at the complete money trail.
Across the 40 pages of campaign-finance records we examined, we identified 86 contributions totaling $233,975.68 connected to industries affected by SB 56 and SB 86, their business associates, and relevant lobbying or government-relations professionals.
Period
Identified contributions
February–June 2025
$129,042.19
July–December 2025
$15,102.54
January–June 2026
$89,830.95
TOTAL
$233,975.68
These are the selected contributions in our investigation, not all of Huffman's campaign fundraising.
The dates reveal something important.
The money did not stop when SB 56 stalled.
It did not stop when the House rewrote the bill.
It did not stop when the conference committee produced a different version.
And it did not stop after Governor DeW**e signed it.
Some of the same executives, professional networks, and political committees continued contributing well into 2026.
Now that we've followed the money through the full reporting period, we can examine the next question.
What were these businesses and their lobbyists actually asking lawmakers to put into SB 56 and SB 86?
Because we know who contributed.
We know when.
We know which companies and industries they were connected to.
And we know the legislation changed dramatically between its introduction and final passage.
Now it's time to follow the changes.
COMING IN PART 5
Who Rewrote the Rules? The Lobbyists, the Amendments, and the Changing Versions of SB 56 and SB 86
The beverage provisions. The proposed licensing pathway. The 87–8 House vote. The conference committee changes. And the interests that pushed for different versions of the law.
Reporting basis: Matthew Huffman's campaign-contribution records published by Transparency USA, data through June 30, 2026; Ohio legislative records for SB 56 and SB 86; official lobbying disclosures; and public statements by state officials. Contributions from individuals are not attributed to their employers as corporate payments. The records establish dates, amounts, and documented relationships, not an exchange of campaign money for legislative favors.
